EP1579319B1 - Devices and methods for conditional execution decision making in relation to services received and creation of information messages associated with said services, and associated products - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to devices and methods, on the one hand conditional decision of execution of services received and on the other hand constitution of information messages associated with services, as well as associated products.

It applies to both interactive TVs and Set Top Boxes (STBs), allowing users to interact with interactive services. These terminals are generally connected to one or two communication networks comprising a bidirectional network (modem return path, cable ...) of the point-to-point type (such as the telephone network) and a single distribution network. directional (analogue, digital or digital TV broadcast network, cable, satellite). Of particular interest hereinafter are more particularly interactive consumer terminals, which include in particular receivers such as those marketed under the trademark TAK (eTV), DVB decoders (for "Digital Video Broadcasting") and Internet decoders.

The execution in such a terminal of interactive services in addition to the programs broadcast, is based on specific features of the terminal, including for display. These specificities are most often in the form of an embedded software package, including plug-ins or plug-ins, that is to say software applications complementary to existing software, which automatically enter into action in the presence multimedia objects without the user having to intervene. Plug-ins are usually associated with web browsers. Often downloaded for free on the Internet, they allow for example to listen to sounds or to see videos. For example, a widespread plug-in is the one marketed under the name "Flash" by Macromedia. This web page dynamization plug-in allows you to insert animations into HTML pages (for "HyperText Markup Language").

Service providers are primarily broadcasters, or broadcasters, or advertisers. A service operator controls the dissemination of interactive services, under a contract signed with a provider, direct or indirect (by subcontracting), of these services. These generally concern either live events or game shows (the supplier is then a broadcaster), or interactive advertisements (the supplier is then an advertiser). In both cases, the service operator commits himself to the good diffusion of the services (number and schedule of the diffusions, good execution ...) and ensures, besides a certain quality of service, a reception by a number as high as possible terminals.

Thus, the interactive public terminals receive enriched programs, that is to say audiovisual programs which are linked interactive services. Each interactive service conventionally includes, for transmissions according to the ATVEF standard (for "Advanced Television Enhancement Forum"), HTML pages and dependencies such as images in GIF (for "Graphics Interchange Format") or JPEG (for "Joint Photographic Experts Group "), or Flash animations. This operation is similar for broadcasts according to the DVB-MHP standard (for "Multimedia Home Platform"), this standard also relies on HTML.

• diffusion d'un message d'annonce de service (announcement) prévenant le terminal qu'une interactivité est présente ; le terminal se met alors à l'écoute du contenu du service interactif, donc en attente de réception des pages HTML et de toutes les dépendances composant ce service, et des ordres d'exécution de ce service sous forme de déclencheurs ou « triggers » (déclencheurs d'affichage, mais aussi déclencheurs de mise à jour du service) ;
• diffusion du contenu ;
• et diffusion des déclencheurs.

Typically, when an enriched program is broadcast, the terminal begins by acquiring the interactive service. Then receiving a signal sent by the operator causes the appearance of a graphical or textual display superimposed on the video, inviting the user to interact with this service. Optionally, depending on the choice of the operator, this invitation is avoided and the service appears directly. As part of the ATVEF, the dissemination and display of the interactive service includes the following steps:

• broadcasting a service announcement message (announcement) warning the terminal that an interactivity is present; the terminal then listens to the content of the interactive service, thus waiting to receive HTML pages and all the dependencies that make up this service, and orders for the execution of this service in the form of triggers or "triggers" ( display triggers, but also service update triggers);
• dissemination of the content;
• and broadcasting triggers.

In the context of MHP, the operation is similar, the service announcement message being constituted by a signaling.

However, plug-ins evolve very quickly and there are many successive versions. Thus, the Flash plug-in currently includes Flash3, Flash4 and Flash5, all of which are widely used. A terminal with the Flash5 plug-in can then display Flash3 animations, but if it knows only Flash3, it is unable to display correctly an HTML page embedding an animation made in Flash4 or Flash5. What's more, service providers tend to always want to use the latest versions of plug-ins to get the most out of their features and fine-tune the presentation of their interactive services.

For interactive terminals, it is therefore necessary to regularly update. As long as the services are operated by a unique entity towards homogeneous targets, such operations can still be mastered. However, when two service operators are operational or the target interactive STBs or TV set becomes heterogeneous, difficulties arise. Thus, if a terminal has not been updated during a last software download campaign, for example, this terminal may no longer be able to display certain interactive services issued. However, it is likely for consumer applications that the terminal park is indeed heterogeneous, all terminals have not been systematically updated.

To face this difficulty, it is known to ensure that the services sent to the terminals indicate the plug-ins and their versions, required for perfect execution. The terminal can then decide whether or not to execute the service according to the means available to it, even if it has to display an HTML page in degraded mode if it has a version that is less efficient than the one indicated, but nevertheless exploitable for this service.

This approach contrasts with that of the computer world, in which the user is offered to download the most recent version of the required plug-in, for example to display an HTML page. This choice by the user is not a problem, since the request is aimed at a relatively informed public and that the download duration has no impact on the quality of the service (no synchronization with a program) . By analogy with the computer world, if the user of an interactive terminal requests the bidirectional network to request information even if he does not have the latest version of the desired plug-in, a display in degraded mode is also acceptable, to the extent that the user himself takes the initiative to run the service.

On the other hand, in the case of a service received by broadcast, it is important that the service (for example an interactive advertisement) runs perfectly on all the consumer terminals that receive it, in accordance with the contract entered into between the operator and the service provider. The display in degraded mode, as the non-execution of the service, may indeed be highly detrimental to the quality of services.

The MHP standard, in its most recent version 1.1.1 (ETSI TS 102 812 V1.1.1), provides for signaling information relating to the plug-ins required for the execution of associated services (§ 10.13.2). ), such as the identity of the plug-in application and its startup mode. Moreover (§ 10.13.3), it is planned to be able to associate each executable application by means of a plug-in, to several plug-ins which can each be suitable for this purpose, classified in order of preference (of which one by default) . However, the standard remains silent on the use of this information when none of the plug-ins that can be used for an application to be executed are available locally in the terminal. Presumably, the current uses in this area then lead to refusing the execution of the service.

In order to partially solve the difficulties posed by the non-execution of services, or their approximate execution, one could consider a systematic download of the preferred plug-ins required in an MHP signaling, since these are not available locally. Such a solution would at least anticipate future needs related to these plug-ins.

However, the problem of running services based on a plug-in not yet available would still be penalizing. Indeed, it is likely that in a large number of cases the download would not be complete at the time of receiving the contents and triggers. Not only would the received service run the risk of being unable to be executed, but the terminal would often needlessly acquire the content of this service. What's more, an automatic plug-in download operation could be problematic in many ways, including bandwidth congestion and storage space.

This is why the most natural solution seems to be to perform a conditional execution of the application in question, depending on whether or not the required plug-ins (mentioned in the signaling) are available locally, even if the plug-ins are taken into account. missing to develop a local update management involving a user. Such a process of updating according to the solicitations vis-à-vis a terminal would in any case only for the future, and therefore would not be applicable to services requiring for the first time a new version of a plug-in, or a plug-in that was not needed until then.

The present invention proposes a conditional decision device for executing received services, which makes it possible to overcome the above difficulties to a large extent, by making it possible to significantly reduce the number of cases where the services can not be executed, while avoiding download operations that are detrimental to the use of the terminals concerned, as well as complex and time-consuming management for the users. In addition, the conditional decision device of the invention can facilitate a flexible and efficient update of the functionalities available in the terminals.

The invention also relates to a conditional execution decision method corresponding to the decision device of the invention, as well as a device and a method of forming information messages and associated products.

It applies in particular to the field of television, but also finds interesting applications in the radio, as well as in any other sector that can implement the broadcasting of services with predetermined lifetimes. It is also exploitable both in the analog world and in the digital world.

By "service" is meant hereinafter a set of functionalities intended to be transmitted to terminals and to execute therein, in parallel with the reception by these terminals of programs broadcast by general broadcasting ("broadcasting"). This service may or may not be interactive, the interactivity may itself be local (communication between a user and his terminal) or remotely via a return channel (communication between a user and a service operator via the terminal).

• un module de réception d'informations associées aux services, prévu pour recevoir ces informations préalablement à des exécutions des services associés,
• un module d'identification parmi les informations reçues, de renseignements relatifs à des programmes informatiques requis pour l'exécution des services associés à ces informations,
• un module de contrôle de disponibilité locale des programmes informatiques identifiés,
• et un module de décision sélective d'exécution de services, prévu pour autoriser l'exécution des services si les programmes informatiques requis pour ces services sont disponibles localement.

The invention thus relates to a conditional decision device for executing services received via a communications network, these received services having predetermined lifetimes. The device comprises:

• an information reception module associated with the services, designed to receive this information prior to executing the associated services,
• an identification module among the information received, information relating to computer programs required for the execution of the services associated with this information,
• a local availability control module of the identified computer programs,
• and a selective service execution decision module, provided to authorize the execution of the services if the computer programs required for these services are available locally.

• un module d'obtention de programmes informatiques, capable de déclencher un téléchargement des programmes informatiques requis pour les services si ces programmes informatiques ne sont pas disponibles localement,
• et un module de décision sélective automatique d'obtention de programmes informatiques, capable d'autoriser et d'interdire le téléchargement des programmes informatiques requis pour ces services et non disponibles localement, au moins en fonction des informations associées à ces services.

According to the invention, this device also comprises:

• a module for obtaining computer programs, capable of triggering a download of the computer programs required for the services if these computer programs are not available locally,
• and an automatic selective decision module for obtaining computer programs, capable of authorizing and prohibiting the downloading of the computer programs required for these services and not available locally, at least according to the information associated with these services.

Thus, surprisingly, the invention does not rely on an adaptation at the emission level, for example to systematically propose the most recent plug-ins sufficiently early before the broadcast of services using them, or on an adaptation to the program. reception level, for example by increasing terminal resources in terms of bandwidth and storage capacity. In contrast, the device of the invention relates to an interaction between transmission and reception, using both the information provided to the program (information on the required computer programs) and local information (availability of computer programs required, decision criteria on the download).

In this way, the receiver can adapt automatically and flexibly to the situation, deciding whether or not to download the computer programs (preferably plug-ins) required by the services received later. In a completed embodiment of the invention, the The receiver is able to trigger the download of the missing computer programs each time this download is satisfactory for both the sender and the user of the services, and to avoid this operation in other cases. The content of a service is not acquired by a terminal if the latter is not able to execute it.

• le téléchargement a lieu uniquement s'il est achevé lors de l'instant de démarrage du service concerné, dans la mesure où initier le service en cours de route est considéré comme sans intérêt (par exemple, jeu interactif au cours d'une émission, dans lequel rater le début du jeu revient à une perte certaine) ;
• le téléchargement a lieu uniquement s'il est achevé lors d'un instant prédéfini avant la fin du service concerné, dans la mesure où initier le service en cours de route est considéré comme utile (par exemple, résultats de foot pendant un match) ;
• le téléchargement est effectué même s'il ne peut pas être exploité pour le service concerné, car le programme informatique téléchargé est très utile en général et sera disponible pour d'autres services, ou sera utile pour les occurrences suivantes du service concerné ;
• le téléchargement est effectué seulement s'il reste confiné à une bande passante prédéfinie et/ou s'il n'occupe qu'un espace de stockage limité prédéfini.

Thus, in preferred embodiments that can be combined:

• the download takes place only if it is completed at the time of start of the service concerned, insofar as initiating the service en route is considered irrelevant (for example, interactive game during a broadcast, in which to miss the beginning of the game returns to a certain loss);
• the download takes place only if it is completed at a predefined time before the end of the service concerned, insofar as initiating the service en route is considered useful (for example, football results during a match);
• the download is made even if it can not be exploited for the service concerned, because the downloaded computer program is very useful in general and will be available for other services, or will be useful for the following occurrences of the service concerned;
• the download is made only if it remains confined to a predefined bandwidth and / or if it occupies only a predefined limited storage space.

The information sent may or may not be directly intended for this decision process. It can in particular be an indicator imposing the downloading of a plug-in in all circumstances, even if this plug-in becomes available only during the execution of the service associated with this indicator, or even that this plug-in does not downloaded in time for this service but for later services. It can also be information accessible in service announcement messages regardless of this particular application, for example regarding the identity of the plug-in (as in the MHP standard). In any case, an important aspect of the invention is the combination of the decision criterion at the reception level and the exploitation of this information.

In addition, additional elements to this information may be involved in the decision, such as for example local resources.

The decision device is advantageously incorporated in a terminal (such as in particular a television or an interactive radio or a STB). However, in other forms of implementation, it is placed in an intermediate receiver between the transmitter and the terminals. For example, such a receiver is used for a group of terminals pooling reserves of bandwidth and storage (company, building ...).

The communications network used to transmit the services may be mono or bi-directional. The mode of transmission of information associated with services is preferably, but not necessarily, through the same network. For example, services and information are communicated by broadcasting on the same network via cable, over the air or via satellite. In another example, the information is communicated over the Internet (or more generally, by the return path) before the associated services are broadcast.

A particularly advantageous case for its convenience of implementation and its ease of implementation with regard to existing standards, is the one where the information is communicated within the services concerned, in the service announcement messages, in particular for the ATVEF and MHP standards (the services comprising service announcement messages and contents). The receiving module is then provided to receive the information associated with these services, in the service announcement messages and the information identification module is provided to extract the information in these service announcement messages.

Thus, in a preferred embodiment, the interactive service includes both information describing the plug-ins that it uses, and information forcing or not the download, so that the terminal can decide whether or not to download these plug-ins. This information is advantageously filled when editing the interactive service from a form for example. Thus, during the generation of the data of the interactive service, this information is inserted in the files composing the service. The terminal includes a decision algorithm for downloading or not plug-ins according to their size and service life.

In the world of analogue TV and ATVEF, this information is advantageously inserted into the SDP part of the announcement (for "Session Description Protocol", the payload format of the service announcement message) in the form a list of required plug-ins. This additional information is preferentially indicated globally for the entire service. In the case of an ATVEF service, for example, it is indeed undesirable to indicate in each of the HTML pages that make up the interactive service which plug-ins are required to execute this page. This would result in increasing each of the pages of the service and especially, a first page of a service that can be displayed by the terminal but not a second page, the user might have access to only part of the service, but could not navigate it.

In the world of digital TV and DVB, this information is advantageously inserted into descriptors of the signaling stream, in the form of identifiers allocated from tables listing all existing and available plug-ins.

Knowing these prerequisites, the terminal can then decide at first to download or not the plug-ins and software versions possibly required and unavailable, and in a second time the display or not the interactive service.

Preferably, the information associated with the services comprising temporal information relating to the validity of execution of these services, the selective decision module obtaining is able to authorize and prohibit the download at least according to this time information. It is indeed interesting to take into account the chronology of the progress of a service (beginning, end, milestone ...) to make or not the decision to download, this chronology is generally synchronized with the general broadcast of associated programs.

Advantageously, the selective decision module of obtaining is then provided to authorize the download if this download is intended to be completed before predefined instants of services, extractable time information, and to prohibit this download otherwise.

Thus, according to a first form of taking into account these temporal information, these predefined instants specify the execution validity of the services. In the case of a long-term service

(such as a portal service that is continuously accessible daily or the broadcast of a sports event such as a football match), it is indeed important to download the missing plug-in (s). only a few minutes) and then offer the service to the viewer.

According to a second form of taking into account these temporal information, these predefined instants specify beginnings of execution validity of the services. The two forms are advantageously combined, to the extent that complementary information received makes it possible to discriminate between the two cases (for example a specific indicator on the decision criterion, or information on the type of service such as "continuously accessible portal"). .

In cases where the download authorization is dependent on the predefined instants of the services, the selective decision module for obtaining is preferably capable of acquiring download times of the computer programs required and not available locally, and thus to estimate when this download is intended to be completed. This acquisition mode is advantageously obtained from received information such as the sizes of the computer programs, and local information such as the available bandwidth.

Preferably, the information associated with the services comprising at least one forced download flag having an activated value and a deactivated value, the selective obtaining decision module is provided to force permission to download if this forced download flag has the value enabled. .

• ce service interactif (une publicité de courte durée par exemple) doit être émis n fois au cours du mois et à chaque diffusion de la publicité interactive, le terminal n'a pas le temps de télécharger le plug-in ; sans la disposition ci-dessus, il ne proposerait donc jamais ce service au téléspectateur ; le mode de réalisation avec indicateur de téléchargement forcé permet de forcer le téléchargement de ce plug-in pour que le téléspectateur puisse profiter des n-1 diffusions restantes de la publicité ;
• ce plug-in est tellement répandu qu'il est incontournable ; dans ce cas, le mode de réalisation avec indicateur de téléchargement forcé permet de forcer tous les terminaux du parc à l'acquérir, même s'il ne peut pas être utilisé par le service proposé à cet instant.

More precisely and by way of example, even when downloading the missing plug-in (s) does not allow to display the current occurrence of a service (download time greater than the lifetime of the service), it may still be interesting to force the terminal to download this component (s) missing (s) for one of the following reasons:

• this interactive service (a short advertisement for example) must be issued n times during the month and each broadcast of interactive advertising, the terminal does not have time to download the plug-in; without the above provision, he would therefore never offer this service to the viewer; the embodiment with a forced download flag makes it possible to force the download of this plug-in so that the viewer can benefit from the n-1 remaining diffusions of the advertisement;
• this plug-in is so common that it is unavoidable; in this case, the embodiment with forced download flag makes it possible to force all the terminals of the park to acquire it, even if it can not be used by the service proposed at this time.

In both cases, it is expected that downloaded plug-ins are saved permanently, ie they are installed in Flash memory or on hard disk.

Preferably, and in a general manner, the conditional execution decision device of the invention also comprises a size acquisition module of the required computer programs that are not available locally and the selective decision module of obtaining is able to authorize and to prohibit the download also according to these sizes.

A first form of exploitation of these sizes has already been mentioned above: the selective decision module of obtaining is intended to evaluate download times of computer programs required and not available locally according to these sizes and local reception capacities of the computer programs, and to authorize the download when the latter allows a subsequent at least partial execution of the services.

According to a second form of exploitation of these sizes (which can be combined with the first), the decision module may decide not to authorize the download although the information arrives long before the contents of an associated service, because of the resources too small of the receiver in terms of the size of one of the required computer programs. This limitation of the resources can be inherent to the receiver (modem too slow, space disk or more generally of storage too restricted) or result from the operating mode of receiver (bandwidth having to remain available essentially for other types of receptions, and not leaving free for example only 10%).

The invention also relates to a conditional decision method for executing services received via a communications network, corresponding to the conditional decision device of the invention, and preferably intended to be implemented by means of such a device according to the invention. any of its embodiments.

The invention also relates to a device for forming information messages associated with services, these messages being intended to be distributed to users before executing the associated services. This device comprises means for incorporating into the messages, information relating to computer programs required for the execution of these services.

According to the invention, the incorporation means are provided to include in this information at least one forced download indicator having an activated value and a deactivated value, this indicator being to force a download permission of the required computer programs if the flag is set to on.

This message constitution device is preferably intended to produce messages for a conditional execution decision device according to any one of the embodiments of the invention.

The invention moreover applies to a method of constituting information messages corresponding to the device for constituting information messages of the invention, preferably implemented by means of such a device for constituting messages.

The subject of the invention is also a computer program product comprising program code instructions for executing the steps of the conditional decision execution method or the information message forming method according to the invention, when this program is run on a computer. "Computer program product" means computer program support, which may consist not only of a storage space containing the program, such as a floppy disk or cassette, but also of a signal, such as an electrical or optical signal.

The invention also relates to a control information message intended to be exploited automatically by at least one receiver and associated with at least one service, this message being intended to be broadcast to the receiver prior to execution of this service, and comprising information relating to at least one computer program required for the performance of this service.

According to the invention, this information comprises at least one forced download flag having an activated value and a deactivated value, this flag being intended to force an authorization to download the required computer program if the indicator is activated.

The control information message of the invention is preferably intended to be produced by a message constituting device according to the invention.

The invention applies moreover to a decoder, characterized in that it comprises a conditional decision device of execution according to any one of the embodiments of the invention.

• la Figure 1 est un schéma de principe d'un ensemble d'émission et de réception mettant en oeuvre un dispositif de décision conditionnelle d'exécution selon l'invention ;
• la Figure 2 représente de manière plus détaillée, sous forme de schéma blocs, le dispositif de décision conditionnelle de la Figure 1 ;
• la Figure 3 montre un dispositif de constitution de messages d'informations selon l'invention, utilisé dans l'ensemble de la Figure 1 ;
• la Figure 4 illustre sous forme d'organigramme un processus de décision d'affichage d'un service par le dispositif de décision conditionnelle des Figures 1 et 2 ;
• la Figure 5 représente une mise en oeuvre logicielle de l'ensemble de la Figure 1, selon un premier mode de réalisation du dispositif

The invention will be better understood and illustrated by means of the following examples of embodiment and implementation, in no way limiting, with reference to the appended figures in which:

• the Figure 1 is a block diagram of a transmission and reception set implementing a conditional execution decision device according to the invention;
• the Figure 2 represents in more detail, in block diagram form, the conditional decision-making mechanism of the Figure 1 ;
• the Figure 3 shows a device for constituting information messages according to the invention, used throughout the Figure 1 ;
• the Figure 4 illustrates in the form of a flowchart a decision process of displaying a service by the conditional decision device of Figures 1 and 2 ;
• the Figure 5 represents a software implementation of the entire Figure 1 according to a first embodiment of the device

• la Figure 6 détaille le terminal interactif de la Figure 5 ;
• la Figure 7 développe sous forme d'organigramme un processus de décision de téléchargement de plug-ins et d'affichage d'un service, au moyen du dispositif de décision conditionnelle d'exécution du terminal interactif des Figures 5 et 6 ;
• la Figure 8 détaille un terminal interactif incorporant un deuxième mode de réalisation du dispositif de décision conditionnelle d'exécution des Figures 1 et 2, appliqué à la norme MHP ;
• la Figure 9 illustre un déroulement typique d'étapes d'un processus obtenu au moyen du terminal interactif de la Figure 8 ;
• et la Figure 10 schématise un ordinateur personnel incorporant un troisième mode de réalisation du dispositif de décision conditionnelle d'exécution des Figures 1 et 2.

conditional execution decision, with interactive terminal and applied to the ATVEF standard;

• the Figure 6 details the interactive terminal of the Figure 5 ;
• the Figure 7 develops in the form of a flowchart a decision process for downloading plug-ins and displaying a service, by means of the conditional decision device for executing the interactive terminal of Figures 5 and 6 ;
• the Figure 8 details an interactive terminal incorporating a second embodiment of the conditional decision device for executing the Figures 1 and 2 , applied to the MHP standard;
• the Figure 9 illustrates a typical sequence of steps of a process obtained by means of the interactive terminal of the Figure 8 ;
• and the Figure 10 schematizes a personal computer incorporating a third embodiment of the conditional decision device for executing the Figures 1 and 2 .

In the figures, identical or similar elements are designated by the same references. Corresponding elements but having distinct identities are indicated by identical numbers and different suffixes (the suffixes A and B respectively referring to the ATVEF and MHP standards).

In addition, the functional entities described and illustrated (in particular on Figures 1 to 3 ) do not necessarily correspond to entities physically separate from the systems, but may for example consist of functionalities of the same software or circuits of the same component. On the other hand, the same module can be implemented in the form of several physically separate entities.

A set of transmitting and receiving ( Figure 1 ) comprises a transmitter 1 and a receiver 2, communicating via a network 6, the transmitter 1 being provided for transmitting services 11 to the receiver 2.

The receiver 2 is provided with a service execution unit 40 and a conditional decision device for executing the services 11 received. It also has a storage space 30, intended to store in particular computer features used for the execution of services 11.

The transmission and reception assembly further includes a source 3 of information relating to the transmitter 1 via a link 8, able to supply the conditional decision device 20 with information 12 associated with the services 11 via a network 7. (which may be identical to network 6). This information 12 includes in particular information relating to computer programs required for the execution of the services. 11. A source 4 of computer programs enables the conditional decision device 20 to trigger a downloading of computer programs 13 required for the execution of the services. 11 to the receiver 2, especially for a backup in the storage space 30.

• un module de réception 21 des informations 12 associées aux services 11,
• un module d'identification 22 au sein de ces informations 12, des renseignements sur les programmes informatiques requis pour l'exécution des services 11 ;
• un module de contrôle 23 de disponibilité locale (dans l'espace de stockage 30) des programmes informatiques ainsi identifiés ;
• un module de décision sélective d'exécution 24 des services 11, si les programmes informatiques requis sont disponibles localement ;
• un module de déclenchement 27 d'exécution de ces services 11 (aux moments appropriés) ;
• un module de décision sélective automatique d'obtention 25 des programmes informatiques 13 requis et non disponibles localement, destiné à autoriser ou interdire le téléchargement de ces programmes informatiques ; pour ce faire, le module de décision sélective 25 est capable de tenir compte non seulement des renseignements extraits des informations 12 et d'autres éléments inclus dans ces informations 12 (tels que notamment les instants de début et de fin des services 11), mais aussi de capacités locales 15 du récepteur 2, par exemple enregistrées au préalable dans l'espace de stockage 30, et de tailles 14 des programmes informatiques 13 requis, accessibles au moyen d'un module d'acquisition 28 de tailles auprès d'une source 5 de tailles de ces programmes 13 ;
• et un module d'obtention 26 des programmes informatiques requis 13 auprès de la source 4 et d'enregistrement éventuel de ces programmes 13 dans l'espace de stockage 30, sur déclenchement du module de décision sélective d'obtention 25.

More precisely ( Figure 2 ), the conditional execution decision device 20 comprises:

• a reception module 21 of the information 12 associated with the services 11,
• an identification module 22 within this information 12, information on the computer programs required for the execution of the services 11;
• a local availability control module 23 (in the storage space 30) of the computer programs thus identified;
• a selective execution decision module 24 of the services 11, if the required computer programs are available locally;
• a trigger module 27 for executing these services 11 (at the appropriate times);
• an automatic selective decision module for obtaining computer programs 13 required and not available locally, for authorizing or prohibiting the downloading of these computer programs; to do this, the selective decision module 25 is able to take into account not only the information extracted from the information 12 and other elements included in this information 12 (such as in particular the start and end times of the services 11), but also local capacities 15 of the receiver 2, for example previously stored in the storage space 30, and sizes 14 of the computer programs 13 required, accessible by means of a size acquisition module 28 from a source 5 of sizes of these programs 13;
• and a module 26 for obtaining the required computer programs 13 from the source 4 and possibly recording these programs 13 in the storage space 30, on triggering the selective decision module obtaining 25.

Source 3 of information ( Figure 3 ) includes a device 31 incorporating in this information 12, information relating to the required computer programs. The device 31 itself includes a module 32 for incorporating specifications on these computer programs (name, version, etc.) and an incorporation module 33 for indications relating to the downloading of these computer programs (download mode, address To contact...).

In operation, the conditional decision device 20 receives in advance from the source 3 information, information relating to computer programs required for the execution of services 11, which follows from the transmitter 1. If all the required computer programs are already available for the receiver 2, the selective execution decision device 24 decides the execution of the services when the time comes.

In the opposite case, the selective decision obtaining device 25 applies an algorithm of choice to decide whether the required and unavailable programs 13 should be downloaded or not. If the answer is positive, the selective decision module obtaining 25 causes the downloading of the missing computer programs 13, by the obtaining module 26 from the source 4. In this case, if all goes well and all the necessary computer programs are thus available to the receiver 2 in due time, the selective execution decision module 24 decides the execution at the appropriate time of the services 11, as indicated above. In cases where the selective decision module obtaining 25 decides not to authorize the download, or when this download is decided but proves to be defective, or when it is normally happening but is completed too late, the module of Selective Execution Decision 24 decides not to perform the relevant services.

In a particular case ( Figure 4 ) in which the service meets the ATVEF or MHP standard, the information 12 relating to an interactive service 11 is sent in an announcement message of this service. As soon as the receiver 2 receives this announcement message (step 41), it identifies versions of plug-ins and software necessary to correctly display this service (step 42). It then checks whether all the required elements are available locally (step 43) and in the case of a positive response, displays the interactive service at the appropriate time (step 44). In the opposite case, it makes a decision whether or not to download the missing elements (step 45). If this decision is negative, it refuses to display the interactive service (step 47). If it is positive, it retrieves the missing elements (step 46) and displays the interactive service (step 44).

More specific embodiments will now be detailed for respectively ATVEF, MHP services and in the world of personal computers or PCs.

1 / ATVEF Services

The ATVEF-based solution outlined below applies to both the analog world and the digital world. All the implications of the solution are detailed later (from the edition of an interactive service to its reception on a terminal).

• de création du service interactif 11 (développement du service interactif par écriture des pages HTML, des animations Flash, des instructions en langage JavaScript... et par description de différents déclencheurs) ;
• de renseignement d'un formulaire de description des plug-ins utilisés (par exemple animation Flash4 embarquée) et d'un indicateur permettant de forcer le téléchargement ;
• et de génération des fichiers ATVEF composant ce service interactif 11 (génération de l'announcement ATVEF, de l'ensemble de contenus - pages HTML et éventuels fichiers Flash et images - et des dédencheurs).

The implementation during the creation of the interactive service 11 (information incorporation device 31) includes the insertion of information 12 relating to this service in the announcement. As part of the interactive TV technology marketed under the name of TAK, for example, this information 12 is filled at the time of the edition of the interactive service 11, for example from a form. TAK provides each service provider or service provider that publishes interactive services with a service edition package. This pack contains editing software and a simulator consisting of an interactive TV, a minimalist data server and a video insertion module. In a variant, the pack includes only a personal computer (PC for "Personal Computer") and a television connected by a serial link or a USB bus (for "Universal Serial Bus"). The editing process thus includes steps:

• creation of the interactive service 11 (interactive service development by writing HTML pages, Flash animations, instructions in JavaScript language ... and by description of different triggers);
• providing information on a form describing the plug-ins used (for example embedded Flash4 animation) and an indicator for forcing the download;
• and generating the ATVEF files that make up this interactive service 11 (generation of the ATVEF announcement, of the set of contents - HTML pages and any Flash files and images - and the launcher).

• le format du média (Flash, MP3...),
• et la version de ce média,
  ce champ se trouvant autant de fois qu'il y a de plug-ins. Un autre champ unique permet quant à lui de forcer le téléchargement et l'installation des plug-ins manquants.

With regard to the information format 12, a first field makes it possible to describe the medium by indicating the required plug-in (s). This description consists of two parameters:

• the format of the media (Flash, MP3 ...),
• and the version of this media,
  this field being as many times as there are plug-ins. Another unique field allows forcing the download and installation of missing plug-ins.

For example, the announcement is encapsulated in ATVEF-compliant transport layers in Europe, and includes a Session Announcement Protocol (SAP) header and an SDP payload (for "Session Description"). Protocol ", see RFC 2327 - Request For Comment). The information describing the interactive service 11 finds its place in the SDP, which offers a user-adaptable attribute field "a =".

• a=<attribut> :<valeur>
  avec:
  • <attribut> = mediaFormat ou mediaVersion
    et
  • <valeur> = une chaîne de caractères.

Insert the list of plug-ins used and the version required at the SDP level in the form:

• a = <attribute>: <value>
  with:
  • <attribute> = mediaFormat or mediaVersion
    and
  • <value> = a string of characters.

• <VersionMajor[Separateur][VersionMinor]>
  le champ VersionMajor étant obligatoire et le séparateur, qui doit être connu des terminaux, n'ayant de raison d'être que lorsque VersionMinor est précisé.

For the mediaVersion attribute, which is optional, <value> is of type:

• <VersionMajor [Separator] [VersionMinor]>
  the VersionMajor field being mandatory and the separator, which must be known terminals, having reason to be only when VersionMinor is specified.

• mediaFormat = MonPlugin
• mediaVersion = 4,3

For example, if we are dealing with a plug-in of the MyPlugin 4.3 type and if the chosen separator is the comma (","), then:

• mediaFormat = MyPlugin
• mediaVersion = 4.3

If the mediaVersion field is present, it is necessarily attached to the previous mediaFormat field. If it is absent, then either there is no version to specify, or there is use only basic functionality offered by the plug-in, so the service is viewable correctly regardless of the version of the plug-in presents.

• a=mediaDownload: true ou false

The flag allowing to force the plug-ins download if they are absent is also inserted at the SDP level in the form:

• a = mediaDownload: true or false

By default, if this mediaDownload attribute is not specified, it is considered as not active ( false ). Therefore, the terminal then makes the decision to download the plug-in (s) or not. Otherwise, if it is set to true, then in any case, the plug-ins are downloaded.

An example of SDP is developed below:

• v = 0
• o = - 921216992 921216992 IN IP4 172.30.90.160
• s = TMM
• e=dupont@thmulti.com
• p = + 1-650-470-4860
• a = lang: in
• a = tve weekends: 300
• a = tve standard: primary
• a = tve-id: 79f3711c-40c3-11c4-ded7-1932f6457700
• a = tve-profile: 1
• a> mediaformat: Flash
• a = mediaVersion: 4
• a = med.aFormat: MET-5
• a = mediaFormat: MP3
• a = mediaDownload: true
• sdpattribute = foo
• t = 2873397496 2873404696
• m = data 22814 tve-trigger
• c = IN IP4 227.37.32.27
• m = data 22815 tve-file
• c = IN IP4 224.37.32.21

In this example, the browser of the terminal must support Flash4, multimedia applications according to the MHEG standard (for "Multimedia Hypermedia Expert Group"), as well as audio files in MP3 format. In addition, if one or more components are missing, they will need to be downloaded.

• ces attributs sont des attributs au niveau média et non au niveau session, c'est à dire qu'ils permettent de décrire le média mais qu'ils sont indépendants de la session courante ;
• ces attributs de description de média doivent être insérés après les attributs de description de session (cf. RFC 2327) ;
• et si un récepteur « ne comprend pas » ces attributs, alors il les ignore.

It is interesting to note that:

• these attributes are attributes at the media level and not at the session level, ie they describe the media but they are independent of the current session;
• these media description attributes must be inserted after the session description attributes (see RFC 2327);
• and if a receiver "does not understand" these attributes, then he ignores them.

• un ou plusieurs pilotes 54 (« drivers ») VBI (pour « Vertical Blanking Interval »), destinés à extraire des données transportées dans le signal AV reçu (services 11 et informations 12) ; dans le monde de la TV numérique, ce composant est remplacé par un démultiplexeur ;
• un navigateur 55 (« browser »), chargé de gérer les services interactifs 11 ; il affiche les services 11, reçoit des commandes d'un téléspectateur à travers une télécommande et exécute des actions demandées (hyper-navigation, exécution d'un script, etc.) ;
• le dispositif de décision conditionnelle d'exécution 20 (sous forme logicielle), capable de récupérer les plug-ins requis 13 pour afficher les services 11 et non disponibles ;
• et les services interactifs 11 (pouvant inclure notamment pages HTML, instructions en langage JavaScript et animations Flash) dans une zone de stockage 30S.

The implementation of this realization in an interactive terminal 52 ( Figure 5 ) for analog TV will now be explained. The terminal 52 comprises in the form of software components:

• one or more drivers VBI (for "Vertical Blanking Interval"), intended to extract data transported in the received AV signal (services 11 and information 12); in the world of digital TV, this component is replaced by a demultiplexer;
• a browser 55 ("browser"), responsible for managing the interactive services 11; it displays the services 11, receives commands from a viewer through a remote control and performs requested actions (hyper-navigation, execution of a script, etc.);
• the conditional execution decision device 20 (in software form), able to retrieve the required plug-ins 13 to display the services 11 and not available;
• and interactive services 11 (which may include, but are not limited to, HTML pages, JavaScript instructions, and Flash animations) in a 30S storage area.

A broadcaster 51 (the transmitter 1) communicates the services 11 ATVEF to the terminal 52 via the network 6, each of these services 11 comprising an announcement 61, content (s) 62 and trigger (s) 63. This broadcaster 51 is in relation bilateral with a service operator 53, which communicates with the terminal 52 via a bidirectional communication network 8.

Decisions to download and display or not of one of the services 11 are advantageously taken by the conditional execution decision device 20 even before the acquisition of the content 62 of this service, so as not to load the terminal 52 with useless data that he is unable to process anyway. Before opening listening channels on the content 62 and the triggers 63, the interactive terminal 52 thus verifies whether or not he is able to display the interactive service 11 when he receives the announcement 61. If he is not able to display it (he does not have all the required plug-ins and he does not There is no time to download them before the end of service life 11), so he may not listen to the content 62 and ignore it.

More specifically, the interactive terminal 52 ( Figure 6 ) comprises (software components and associated storage) in addition to the drivers 54, the browser 55 and the service 30S storage area 11, a micro-kernel 57, a "middleware" (software serving as a transparent intermediary between application software and network, designated by "middleware" in English) 58 including generic libraries and television (broadcasting, communication) as well as the conditional execution decision device 20, and a storage area 30P plug-ins.

In operation, when receiving a broadcast audiovisual stream 16, the drivers 54, tuner ("tuner", not shown) and limiter filter VBI ("slicer" VBI, not shown) separate the information data, programs video and audio. The audiovisual programs are then offered to the viewer and, if there is one, an interactive service 11 is a candidate to be displayed on the screen. This is where the filtering process implemented by the conditional execution decision device 20 ( Figure 7 ).

• réception d'un paquet ATVEF sous la forme d'une pile de protocoles requis dans le monde de la TV analogique en Europe, et extraction des paquets de niveaux IDL B (pour « Independent Data Line »), désencapsulation des couches IDL B et SLIP (pour « Serial Une Internet Protocol »), et vérification et correction si besoin des codes d'erreur (FEC, pour « Forward Error Correction ») ; direction des paquets UDP (pour
  « Unidirectional Data Protocol ») / IP ainsi obtenus vers le navigateur 55 par les bibliothèques 56 génériques de broadcasting ;

• si un paquet arrive sur le canal d'écoute des announcements 61 ATVEF (étape 41A), alors le navigateur 55 le désencapsule et récupère la charge utile SDP ;
• le dispositif de décision conditionnelle d'exécution 20 effectue diverses vérifications, et récupère les paramètres et la liste des plug-ins requis pour l'exécution du service 11 concerné (étape 42A) ; il récupère aussi la valeur de l'indicateur capable de forcer le téléchargement des plug-ins et la durée de vie du service interactif 11 (champ tve_ends de la charge utile SDP, valeur indiquée par l'attribut t= <start time> <stop time>) ;
• le dispositif 20 compare la liste de plug-ins requis à une liste embarquée (étape 43A) ;
• si les plug-ins requis par le service diffusé sont présents dans la liste des plug-ins embarqués, alors le service 11 est accepté, c'est à dire que le navigateur 55 ouvre alors un canal d'écoute sur le contenu 62 ATVEF (récupération du contenu 62 dans l'étape 71A) et un canal d'écoute sur les déclencheurs 63 (récupération des déclencheurs 63 dans l'étape 72A) ; le service interactif 11 est ainsi affiché (étape 44A) ;
• sinon, le dispositif 20 évalue le temps de téléchargement de l'ensemble des plug-ins requis manquants 13 (étape 73A) et le compare à la durée de vie du service (étape 45A) ;
• si ce temps (plus une constante) est supérieur à la date d'expiration du service 11, alors le dispositif 20 vérifie la valeur de l'indicateur de forçage du téléchargement des plug-ins (étape 45A') ; suivant le cas, le téléchargement ou non des plug-ins 13 est effectué (étape 46A' pour le téléchargement forcé), mais le service 11 n'est en aucun cas acquis et affiché (étape 47A) ; dans le cas où les plug-ins 13 sont téléchargés, ils sont alors installés en mémoire permanente ;
• si ce temps (plus la constante) est inférieur à la date d'expiration du service 11, alors le téléchargement des plug-ins est effectué

The filtering process includes the following steps:

• receipt of an ATVEF packet in the form of a protocol stack required in the world of analog TV in Europe, and extraction of IDL B (for "Independent Data Line") level packets, de-encapsulation of IDL B and SLIP layers (for "Serial An Internet Protocol"), and verification and correction if necessary of the error codes (FEC, for "Forward Error Correction"); UDP packet direction (for
  "Unidirectional Data Protocol") / IP thus obtained to the browser 55 by the generic libraries 56 broadcasting;

• if a packet arrives on the ATVEF announcements listening channel 61 (step 41A), then the browser 55 unencapsulates it and retrieves the SDP payload;
• the conditional execution decision device 20 performs various checks, and retrieves the parameters and the list of plug-ins required for the execution of the service 11 concerned (step 42A); it also retrieves the value of the indicator capable of forcing the downloading of the plug-ins and the lifetime of the interactive service 11 (field tve_ends of the payload SDP, value indicated by the attribute t = <start time><stop time >);
• the device 20 compares the list of required plug-ins to an on-board list (step 43A);
• if the plug-ins required by the broadcast service are present in the list of embedded plug-ins, then the service 11 is accepted, that is to say that the browser 55 then opens a listening channel on the content 62 ATVEF ( recovering content 62 in step 71A) and a listening channel on triggers 63 (recovering triggers 63 in step 72A); the interactive service 11 is thus displayed (step 44A);
• otherwise, the device 20 evaluates the download time of the set of missing required plug-ins 13 (step 73A) and compares it to the lifetime of the service (step 45A);
• if this time (plus a constant) is greater than the expiration date of the service 11, then the device 20 checks the value of the forcing flag of the plug-in download (step 45A '); as the case may be, the downloading or not of the plug-ins 13 is carried out (step 46A 'for the forced download), but the service 11 is in no case acquired and displayed (step 47A); in the case where the plug-ins 13 are downloaded, they are then installed in permanent memory;
• if this time (plus the constant) is less than the expiration date of service 11, then the plug-ins are downloaded

(Step 46A) and in parallel the service 11 is acquired (step 74A, the browser 55 then opens a listening channel on the content 62 ATVEF and a listening channel on the triggers 63); once the plug-ins are installed on the terminal 52, the browser 55 listens to the open channel on the triggers 63 and upon receipt of a display trigger (step 75A), displays the service 11 (step 44A).

The evaluation of the download time of a required and unavailable plug-in 13 and the download modalities will now be detailed.

The plug-in 13 can be retrieved via two types of channel: either by broadcasting (from the broadcaster 51 or another broadcaster), or by bidirectional communication with a server (via the return channel coming from the service operator 53 or from another source).

By broadcasting, the terminal operator or the service operator 53 can use known means for this kind of update. For example, it broadcasts a signal describing the terminal 52 the way to recover plug-ins broadcast elsewhere. The terminal 52, by analyzing this signaling, can then implement a process of downloading the missing plug-ins 13. The advantage of this method is that it is not expensive for the user of the terminal 52, because no Phone connection is required. A particular implementation of such a method is described in the document EP-1245116 which discloses methods for transmitting and receiving update data. According to the technique disclosed, announcement signals, indicating when the update data will be issued later, precede the transmission of these data.

By communication with a server, the terminal operator or the service operator 53 can use known means for this kind of update. For example, it broadcasts a description describing the terminal 52 the means of recovering the plug-ins 13 available elsewhere on an online server. The terminal 52, analyzing this signaling, then implements a process of downloading the missing plug-ins 13 via the telephone or ADSL (for "Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line"). According to another mechanism, it initiates a connection to a server and starts a negotiation, invisible to the user of the terminal 52, between the terminal 52 and the server. The server then supplies the terminal 52 with the missing plug-ins 13.

The estimated download time depends on the type of channel used to recover it (bit rate) and the size of the plug-in 13. Concerning the recovery of the size, one can proceed by way of broadcasting, by bidirectional communication with a server, or by exploiting embedded information.

By broadcasting, the terminal operator or the service operator 53 continuously broadcasts a signaling stream indicating the current sizes of each of the latest versions of plug-ins available. This method has the advantage of speed, because it is useless to connect and query an online server (loss of time).

By communication with a server, the terminal 52 is configured to connect to an online server, able to indicate all sizes of known plug-ins. This method has the advantage of a bandwidth saving, because it is useless to broadcast data continuously.

For the exploitation of embedded information, the terminal 52 has a description table of known plug-ins, embedded in permanent memory. This table can be regularly updated either by broadcasting (sending the table in a stream per download campaign), or online, when the viewer connects for example. This method has the advantage of immediately offering the size of the required plug-in 13 (the terminal 52 is therefore able to make the decision quickly).

We can also combine the different methods. For example, for example, the terminal 52 first searches for the size of the required plug-in 13 in the embedded table. If this plug-in 13 is not there (the table is too old), the terminal 52 initiates a connection to an online server to retrieve the information.

2 / MHP Services

This family of achievements concerns exclusively the digital world.

For the implementation during the creation of the interactive service 11 (information embedding device 31), the information concerning the types of applications used (for example embedded Flash4 animation) are filled at the time of publishing this service 11, for example from a form. This generates a file containing the sources of the interactive service 11 and all the information relating to the proper execution of this service (timing for the triggers, list of plug-ins required ...). When creating an MPEG ("Moving Picture Experts Group") stream, this file is imported and the various information is entered in the descriptors of the stream. The format of this information is the one used in the world of digital TV according to the MHP standard.

• des pilotes 84 ;
• un intergiciel 88 incluant des bibliothèques 86 génériques et de télévision (DVB-SI data - for « Service Information », communication...), une unité d'accès conditionnel 89 et le dispositif de décision conditionnelle d'exécution 20 ;
• un moteur de présentation 85 (navigateur) associé à une unité DVB-HTML référencée 90 ;
• un moteur interactif 85' (Java VM) associé à une unité DVB-J référencée 90' ;
• un micro-noyau 87 ;
• et des zones de stockage 30S et 30P respectivement de services interactifs et de plug-ins.

We will now detail a particular implementation of the conditional execution decision device 20 in an interactive terminal MHP referenced 82 ( Figure 8 ). The terminal 82 includes software and storage components that include:

• drivers 84;
• a middleware 88 including generic and television libraries 86 (DVB-SI data - for "Service Information", communication ...), a conditional access unit 89 and the conditional execution decision device 20;
• a presentation engine 85 (browser) associated with a DVB-HTML unit referenced 90;
• an interactive engine 85 '(Java VM) associated with a DVB-J unit referenced 90';
• a micro-core 87;
• and 30S and 30P storage areas respectively of interactive services and plug-ins.

In operation, during the reception of a broadcast MHP stream 17, the drivers 84, a tuner and a demultiplexer make it possible to first extract the PMT (for "Program Map Table") table from the MPEG2 train in order to recover the signaling describing the content of stream 17 received.

On the one hand, the audiovisual programs are then offered to the viewer and, on the other hand, if there are any, an interactive service 11 is a candidate to be displayed on the screen. This is where the process of filtering the conditional execution decision device 20 comes into play.

• ouverture des trains audiovisuels et de service (étapes 91 et 92), et extraction de paquets MPEG2 contenant la signalisation ;
• récupération de la signalisation par les pilotes 84 et envoi aux bibliothèques 86 (étape 93), qui détectent la disponibilité du service 11 (étape 94) et la notifient au dispositif de décision conditionnelle d'exécution 20 (étape 95) ;
• les bibliothèques 86 en charge de gérer le SI permettent de récupérer un descripteur data_broadcast_id et de constituer ainsi la liste des plug-ins nécessaires pour que le service 11 s'affiche correctement sur l'écran du téléspectateur ; cette opération est pilotée par l'intergiciel 88 (étape 42B) ;
• cette liste est analysée puis comparée à une liste résidente de plug-ins embarqués (étape 43B) par le dispositif 20 ;
• si les plug-ins requis par le service diffusé sont présents dans la liste des plug-ins embarqués alors le service 11 est accepté ; sinon, le dispositif 20 décide si un téléchargement des plug-ins manquants 13 doit être effectué, de façon similaire à ce qui a été développé pour ATVEF ; si, comme dans l'exemple représenté, le dispositif 20 décide de ne pas procéder au téléchargement, le service 11 est ignoré (étape 47B).

The process steps can be described as follows ( Figure 9 ):

• opening the audiovisual and service trains (steps 91 and 92), and extracting MPEG2 packets containing the signaling;
• recovering the signaling by the drivers 84 and sending to the libraries 86 (step 93), which detect the availability of the service 11 (step 94) and notify it to the conditional execution decision device 20 (step 95);
• the libraries 86 in charge of managing the IF make it possible to retrieve a descriptor data_broadcast_id and thus constitute the list of plug-ins necessary for the service 11 to be correctly displayed on the screen of the viewer; this operation is controlled by middleware 88 (step 42B);
• this list is analyzed then compared to a resident list of embedded plug-ins (step 43B) by the device 20;
• if the plug-ins required by the broadcast service are present in the list of embedded plug-ins then service 11 is accepted; otherwise, the device 20 decides whether a download of the missing plug-ins 13 should be done, similar to what has been developed for ATVEF; if, as in the example shown, the device 20 decides not to download, the service 11 is ignored (step 47B).

3 / PC world

• <META NAME="mediaFormat" CONTENT="<Plugin Name>, [version]"> avec:
  • <Plugin_Name> : paramètre obligatoire
  • [version] : paramètre optionnel indiquant si nécessaire une version minimale du plug-in requis.

We are mainly interested in interactive applications for TV on PC (the PC being connected to a broadcasting network). When editing an HTML page (information embedding device 31), couples of name and value fields "NameNalue" are defined to specify plug-ins required for the execution of a service. These pairs are introduced at the level of metadata contained in the header of the HTML page, as follows:

• <META NAME = "mediaFormat" CONTENT = "<Plugin Name>, [version]"> with:
  • <Plugin_Name>: mandatory parameter
  • [version]: Optional parameter indicating if necessary a minimum version of the required plug-in.

• <META NAME="mediaDownload" CONTENT="<TRUE or FALSE>"> avec:
  • si TRUE, téléchargement forcé des plug-ins manquants 13 ;
  • et si FALSE, décision par le navigateur 105 de télécharger ou non les plug-ins 13 suivant la durée de vie du service 11.

The indication if the missing plug-ins 13 must be downloaded or not with forcing is inserted as follows:

• <META NAME = "mediaDownload" CONTENT = "<TRUE or FALSE>"> with:
  • if TRUE, download forced missing plug-ins 13;
  • and if FALSE, decision by the browser 105 to download or not the plug-ins 13 following the service life of the service 11.

• <META NAME="ServiceValidityWindow" CONTENT="<Start Time>, <End Time>">

We also include a notion of service life:

• <META NAME = "ServiceValidityWindow" CONTENT = "<Start Time>, <End Time>">

• <HTML>
• <!- DATE DE CREATION: 14/12/99 ->
• <HEAD>
• <TITLE></TITLE>
• <META NAME="Description" CONTENT="">
• <META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="">
• <META NAME="Author" CONTENT="Frederic Pasquier">
• <META NAME="mediaFormat" CONTENT="Flash, 4">
• <META NAME="mediaFormat" CONTENT="MP3">
• <META NAME="mediaFormaf' CONTENT="MHEG-5">
• <META NAME="mediaDownload" CONTENT="TRUE">
• <META NAME="ServiceValidityWindow" CONTENT="2873397496, 2873404696">
• </HEAD>
• <BODY>
• ... Code HTML utilisant des formats Flash4, MP3 et PNG...
• </BODY>
• </HTML>

For example, the HTML page has the following form:

• <HTML>
• <! - DATE OF CREATION: 14/12/99 ->
• <HEAD>
• <TITLE></TITLE>
• <META NAME = "Description" CONTENT = "">
• <META NAME = "Keywords" CONTENT = "">
• <META NAME = "Author" CONTENT = "Frederic Pasquier">
• <META NAME = "mediaFormat" CONTENT = "Flash, 4">
• <META NAME = "mediaFormat" CONTENT = "MP3">
• <META NAME = "mediaFormaf 'CONTENT =" MHEG-5 ">
• <META NAME = "mediaDownload" CONTENT = "TRUE">
• <META NAME = "ServiceValidityWindow" CONTENT = "2873397496, 2873404696">
• </ HEAD>
• <BODY>
• ... HTML code using Flash4, MP3 and PNG formats ...
• </ BODY>
• </ HTML>

A PC 102 capable of implementing the conditional execution decision device 20 ( Figure 10 ) comprises a browser 105 incorporating this device 20, and storage areas 30P and 30S respectively of plug-ins and services. The browser 105 is adapted to be able to retrieve and understand the Name / Value pairs defined above.

In operation, the PC 102 receives a stream 18 comprising an HTML page with a header as described above. The browser 105 then decides whether or not to download and install the required plug-ins 13 and the display of the corresponding service 11, according to a method similar to that previously explained for the ATVEF. The available or downloaded plug-ins are always installed on the hard disk.

Claims (7)

1. Conditional decision-making device (20) for execution of services (11) linked to broadcasted audiovisual programs and received via a communication network (6), characterized in that said received services (11) having predetermined lifetimes, said predetermined lifetimes being defined by temporal information relating to an execution validity of said services, said temporal information comprising predefined instants of said services, the services being synchronized with said broadcast audiovisual programs, said device (20) comprising:

   - a module (21) for the reception of information (12) associated with said services (11), intended to receive said information (12) prior to the execution of said services (11);

   - a module (22) for identification among said received information (12), of information relating to computer programs required for the execution of said services (11) associated with said information (12);

   - a module (23) for verification of local availability of said identified computer programs;

   - a selective decision-making module (24) for execution of services, intended to authorize the execution of said services (11) if said computer programs required for said services (11) are locally available;

   - a module (26) for obtaining computer programs, able to download said computer programs (13) required for said services (11) upon initiation of the selective decision-making obtaining module (25);

   - a decision-making module (26) for obtaining computer programs, able to authorize and to prevent downloading of said computer programs (13) required for said services (11) and not available locally, at least as a function of said temporal information, said temporal information being comprised in said information (12) associated to said services (11).
2. Conditional execution decision-making device (20) according to claim 1, characterized in that said predefined instants specify the ends of the execution validity of said services (11).
3. Conditional execution decision-making device (20) according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said predefined instants specify the starts of the execution validity of said services (11).
4. Conditional execution decision-making device (20) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said information (12) associated with said services (11) comprising at least one forced download indicator having an activated value and a deactivated value, said selective decision-making obtaining module (25) is intended to force authorization of said downloading if said forced download indicator has the activated value.
5. Conditional execution decision-making device (20) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said services (11) comprising announcements (61, 81) for services (11) and content (62), the reception module (21) is intended to receive said information (12) associated with said services (11), in said announcements (61, 81) for services (11) and the module (22) for identification of information is intended to extract said information in service announcement (61, 81) messages.
6. Method for conditional execution decision-making for services (11) relating to broadcasted audiovisual programs and received via a communication network (6), characterized in that said received services (11) having predetermined lifetimes, said predetermined lifetimes are defined by temporal information relating to an execution validity of said services, said temporal information comprising predefined instants of said services, the services being synchronized with said broadcasted audiovisual programs, said method comprising:

   - a step (41 A) of reception of information (12) associated with said services (11) before execution of said services (11);

   - a step (42A) of identification among said received information (12), of information relating to computer programs required for the execution of said services (11) associated with said information (12);

   - a step (43A) of verification of local availability of said identified computer programs;

   - a step (72A) of selective decision-making for execution of services, in which an execution of said services (11) is authorized if said computer programs required for said services (11) are locally available;

   - a step (45) of selective decision-making for obtaining computer programs, in which a decision is made to either authorize or prevent the downloading of said computer programs (13) required for said services (11) and unavailable locally, at least according to said temporal information, said temporal information being comprised in said information (12) associated with said services (11);

   - a step (46A) of obtaining computer programs, by downloading said computer programs (13) required for said services (11) upon initiation of the selective decision-making obtaining module (25).
7. Conditional execution decision-making method, characterized in that said method is implemented by a conditional execution decision-making device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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